SEC Sports Report Makes SEC West Predictions

Welcome to SEC Sports Report pre-season picks. We're glad you joined us as we take a look at Southeastern conference Football 2008. We have compiled our picks for how the SEC East will end the year. Our picks are always different from the rest of the media but we're right more times than wrong. Remove a couple of plays from each game and we are near genius.

The USA Today pre-season rankings have the Georgia Bulldogs #1, Florida Gators #5, LSU #6, Auburn #11 and Tennessee at #18. The Gamecocks and Alabama are just under the top 25 radar.

Let's take a look at the SEC West:

#1 Auburn Tigers--Our top pick in the SEC West is Auburn. Head Coach Tommy Tuberville brings in a spread offense and two new coordinators on both sides of the ball. This team was so competitive in summer work outs, they were fighting each other.

We have a lot of faith in Tony Franklins' offensive philosophy. Coach Franklin takes the advantage by spreading it all out and running the plays fast before the defense has time to set up. Auburn has a more experienced team from last year and returns 16 starters. The schedule is much more favorable with LSU, Georgia and Tennessee at home. Coach Tuberville has six consecutive wins over Alabama which is nearly enough for the alumni to make a statute of Tuberville at the front gate.

#2 LSU Tigers-- Last year's National Champs have enough talent to compete for the SEC West title. However, with only 12 returning starters and a big question mark at quarterback, we believe LSU will have a tougher year than 2007. LSU draws Florida, Georgia and travels to South Carolina for the SEC East match-ups. Excellent coaches,great players, tough schedule. We believe the SEC West will come down to Auburn and LSU. This team has enough talent to win every game, we just don't think it will happen.

#3 Alabama Crimson Tide--In Tuscaloosa, Alabama starts its second season under head coach Nick Saban. The Crimson Tide has a senior quarterback and is saying they have better chemistry this year for the team. Saban says he may play as many as ten freshman this year from the rivals #1 recruiting class.This team will be good but next year will be better.

#4 Ole Miss Rebels-- In Oxford, Ole Miss starts the season with a new head coach in Houston Nutt and 16 returning starters. The Rebels are our SEC West spoiler team in 2008 because they have a number of NFL prospects on the team. There is a lot of talent on this team, and they are going to upset some good teams. With a new quarterback in Jevan Snead and an optimistic coach, we like Ole Miss this year.

#5 Mississippi State Bulldogs--In Starkville, Miss State had an unbelievable 2007, finishing the season 8-5 and winning the Liberty Bowl. The Bulldogs beat Auburn, Alabama and a good Kentucky team last year. This team is more talented in 2008. However, the teams the Bulldogs beat are more talented this year too. Mississippi State still has a good shot a bowl game this year.

#6 Arkansas Razorbacks--Rounding out the SEC West are the Arkansas Razorbacks with Bobby Petrino as the new head coach. This team lost a ton of talent including Darren McFadden and Felix Jones and five of six top tacklers on defense. First year coaches usually go through a difficult transition year especially when the talent pool has been depleted so much. We picked the Razorbacks to finish last in the SEC West.